12/10/2003 08:31:00 pm -
Reported by
Marcus

The Christmas/New Year double issue of Radio Times has hit shops in England, and the forthcoming December 30 documentary The Story of Doctor Who gets several plugs in. On Page 17, the documentary is included in a rundown of the best TV and radio of the fortnight. This is illustrated with a large picture of a Dalek family Christmas - three Daleks + a baby Dalek, wearing party hats, eating mashed potato (a reference to 1970s advertising hit 'Smash', which featured a family of robots...) and one of the Daleks carving the turkey! There's also a copy of the Radio Times from November 1999 on the table (Dalek cover) and a photo of Jon Pertwee with the message "A Very Happy Christmas From The Doctor". In that same preview on page 17, there are some comments from Verity Lambert, including 'I don't know that the Daleks are as scary as people make them out to be. I think kids really rather enjoyed them. They like to be scared. I certainly don't think we did anything to traumatise them more than anything else really.' It's not clear whether these are quoted from the documentary or whether Radio Times has interviewed her. She crops up again on page 168 as a 'TV Insider', promoting 'The Story of...', saying that she has high hopes for RTD as 'a very good writer' and that 'Back then, it was just trying to keep the programme on air and making it as entertaining and clever as possible.' There's also a publicity shot of William Hartnell. Also on page 168, 'The Story of...' is one of Today's Choices for Tuesday 30 December, under the heading ''Nostalgia', which notes what a good year it's been for Doctor Who fans, describes the documentary as 'terrific', with 'Marvellous, sometimes hilarious clips... from the creepy (Zygons) to the shambolic (Myrka).' The write-up concludes 'This is tremendous fun, and a reminder of what Saturday teatimes have been missing for years. It's a shame we can't all hop in the TARDIS and leap ahead to see how the new series turns out.' Finally in the Radio Times, there's the listing itself on page 170, illustrated with a couple of Daleks. (Thanks to Steve Tribe)